Existentialism Essay Titles For Hamlet

The Existential Hero: Hamlet Essay

To be without value or meaning permits the violation of norm behavioral standards. Existentialism is championed in the responsibility and free will of man. The world is utterly “worthless, meaningless, empty, and hopeless, … to use a favorite Existentialism, absurd”(Ross 1). A man must become unconventional by supplying an authentic meaning to life. Shakespeare’s character Hamlet in the play Hamlet, explores these existential principles as he seeks truth and understanding after his father’s murder. He attempts to establish order in a chaotic world full of betrayal, spying, and death. This leads to Hamlet’s inevitable downfall and the death of those close to him. Hamlet rises as the existential hero in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through his confrontation with moral responsibilities and the purpose of life. The existential ideal gives structure and meaning to the action of Hamlet. Hamlet is a conflicted character. He is maddened by his father’s, the King of Denmark, murder and his mother’s, Queen Gertrude, untimely marriage to his uncle, King Claudius, who is also his father’s murderer. It is a tangled web of lies, death, and duplicity that Hamlet lives in. “Denmark [certainly] is a prison” for him (II.2.262). Hamlet becomes withdrawn in the play, no longer having an enthusiastic and playful demeanor. His relationship with his mother is destroyed, he denounces Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Ophelia, and he becomes estranged with society as he feigns insanity. He is the quintessential character for Jean Paul Sartre’s existential principle that “Hell is other people.” Ultimately, Hamlet’s nature completely changes. He states to Guildenstern that as “of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises, and, indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition” (II.2.318-321). One can only describe him as “sensitive, irritable, wildly passionate, yet loving and longing” and most importantly “heart-broken” (Williamson 94). Yet, as Claude C. H. Williamson argues in “Hamlet”, if a man is so naturally devoted like this to a cause, then he is “a man made to be loved and honoured” (94). Hamlet’s “intellectual keenness in deceiving, in feigning madness, in discovering the plans [and reading the intentions] of his enemies, … shows him the master of every form of subjective intelligence” (Snider 82). Hamlet’s blatant authenticity, however, ruins even his closest relationships and challenges his moral obligations. Shakespeare was practicing existential principles in his plays before Sartre and Kierkegaard came along. Theodor Meron, in his essay “Crimes and Accountability in Shakespeare,” states that “the play [Hamlet] show[s] the resilience of the concept of accountability, which Shakespeare refers to in both secular and spiritual sense” (2). The character Hamlet exercises the existential principle that “one is responsible for all the consequences of one’s actions” (Ross 1). Hamlet is always trying to do the right thing; he is...

Loading: Checking Spelling

0%

Read more

The Tragic Hero - "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller and "Hamlet" by Shakespeare

926 words - 4 pages Our modern understanding of tragedy and tragic heroes is derived from the writings of the Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle in his famous "poetics". Although Aristotle considered Sophocles' Oedipus to be the ideal tragic hero, Shakespeare's Hamlet,...

Hamlet's Existential Crisis Essay

1772 words - 7 pages When looking at Hamlet, one could say that William Shakespeare put the play together as a very cathartic tragedy. The emotional result of dealing with so many deaths brings on a plethora of emotions which are not usually felt in a typical play. Hamlet begins not with the normal prosperity and good fortune as do most tragedies, but with a more stifling and depressing sort of mood (Tekany 115). However, something else could be said about this...

Hamlet: An Existential Tragedy

2330 words - 9 pages The concept of tragedy has always been praised for its ability to connect to an empathetic audience. This cathartic element present in tragic plays is an emotional response that many individuals constantly seek for the purpose of self-identification. Interestingly enough, one of the biggest questions of humanity pertains to the nature of their existence. As the debate over the meaning of life ensues, the notion of existentialism has been...

2148 words - 9 pages English essay.Comparative study of texts, Shakespeare's Hamlet to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.'Reactions of an existing text provide not only a new text but also a new reading of a prior text'. This statement is very true especially regarding to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead (

Hamlet, the Melancholy One

3380 words - 14 pages Hamlet, the Melancholy One Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet features the most famous protagonist in English literature – Hamlet. Inseparable from his character is the melancholy which permanently afflicted him. This essay concerns itself with this aspect of Hamlet. Harry Levin explains the choices open to the melancholy hero in the General Introduction to The Riverside Shakespeare: The explanation of Hamlet, “What a...

Shakespeare's Hamlet - The Ambiguity

3389 words - 14 pages Hamlet – the Ambiguity The extent of the ambiguity within William Shakespeare’s drama Hamlet deserves consideration. Literary critics disagree in their assessments of how prevalent the ambiguity is in the work. Lawrence Danson in the essay “Tragic Alphabet” discusses the equivocation and ambiguity within the play: Equivocation – the conflict between the reality Hamlet perceives and the language used to describe...

Corruption in Hamlet

587 words - 2 pages In the play 'Hamlet', corruption is conveyed within many of the key characters; Prince Hamlet is not corrupt, but merely fools the people around him into believing that he is, in order to help him carry out his orders. Prince Hamlet learns at the beginning of the play of his father's murder. He then is ordered by his father ghost to seek revenge...

Shakespeare's Ambiguous Hamlet

3182 words - 13 pages That ambiguity exists within the Shakespearean drama Hamlet is a fact accepted by literary critics. Ambiguity of both word and action occur in the play. Let us examine the problem. Ruth Nevo in “Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging” explains the ambiguity present within the hero’s most famous soliloquy: The critical problem arises from the perception that the speech apparently confuses two issues. Since we know what...

Hamlet's Revenge

551 words - 2 pages Hamlet, a play of rationalization, vicious deceit, and stinging vengeance develops Hamlet as a main character. These specific traits are carried out in the play by the character Hamlet himself. Procrastination is one of Hamlet's undesirable characteristics. Hamlet seeks revenge when Claudius kills...

Hamlet (summary)

991 words - 4 pages Hamlet William Shakespeare Grameray Books 152 pages Characters: · Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the present king. Hamlet has logical thoughts but could be considered insane.· Claudius is the King of Denmark when the play begins. He is trying to prove himself to Hamlet and his country.· Polonius...

Ambiguity in Shakespeare's Hamlet

2718 words - 11 pages Ambiguity in Hamlet Ambiguity of both language and action is commonplace in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. Let us examine what can be found relative to this ambiguity in the play. D.G. James says in “The New Doubt” that the Bard of Avon has the ambiguous habit of charging a word with several meanings at once: “Conscience does make cowards of us.” There has been, I am aware, much dispute as to what the word means...

Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Existentialism

by Feross Aboukhadijeh, 12th grade

What is mankind? Who am I? What is the meaning of life? These are multifaceted existential questions that ancient and modern philosophies have yet to adequately answer. Countless philosophers have spent their lifetimes in search of answers to these questions but died before finding a suitable answer. Certainly, the philosophy of existentialism is an interesting phenomenon. The dictionary defines existentialism as a "philosophical movement . . . centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will" ("Existentialism"). The character Hamlet from Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet explores these existential questions, seeking truth and understanding as he tries to come to grips with his father's death. In the end, Hamlet proves to be an exceedingly existential character.

Prince Hamlet is a university student who enjoys contemplating difficult philosophical questions. When his father, king of Denmark, dies, he returns home to find evidence of foul play in his father’s death. The Ghost of Hamlet (the dead king) tells Prince Hamlet that his uncle Claudius is the murderer. Throughout the rest of the play, Hamlet seeks to prove Claudius’ guilt before he takes action against Claudius. However, Hamlet is pensive ad extremum, at times even brooding; he constantly overuses his intellect while ignoring his emotions and ignoring what "feels right." His extreme logic causes him to delay his revenge against Claudius until the final scene of the play where he kills Claudius and proves that he has progressed into a truly existential character.

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet acts out of pure intellect and processed logic. He suppresses his natural instincts, his emotions, and trusts only in the power of his intelligence. For instance, when Hamlet encounters his father's ghost, he does not believe it is his father—even though he has an emotional reaction upon seeing it. Hamlet says “Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell / Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, / Have burst their cerements . . . Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do?” (I.iv.46-48,57). Hamlet is so confused by the sight of his father’s ghost that he is unsure of how to act. His intellect tells him that the sight is not possible, however his emotions tell him otherwise. However, he stifles his emotion and retains his doubts about the ghost. Later, Hamlet plans a play where actors re-enact the king's murder in an effort to prove the validity of what the ghost has told him.

Although Hamlet appears to be the epitome of an anti-existentialist from the outset of the story, Hamlet's logic slowly begins to unravel scene by scene, like a blood-soaked bandage, with layer after layer revealing snippets of Hamlet's emotion and feeling. When Hamlet utters the famous lines " To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles " he is contemplating the thought of suicide and wishing that God had not made suicide a sin (III.i.58-61). Hamlet's anxiety, uncertainty, and tensions cause him to doubt the power of reason alone to solve his problems. Hamlet begins to realize that reason is impotent to deal with the depths of human life—one of the central assertions of existentialism (Bigelow, paragraph 6). Perhaps this is why Hamlet feigns madness; he realizes that he lacks the emotions to avenge his father's death. Indeed, Hamlet does go temporarily insane in Act I, scene ii, and it is during this time when he is able to act out of pure sensation, with no thoughts about the consequences of what he says or does (e.g. when he undeservingly criticizes Ophelia). However, in uniting his emotions and reason, Hamlet is careful to avoid the temptation to commit suicide because if one commits suicide to escape life's pain, then one is damned to eternal suffering in hell. To Hamlet (and most other people of the 1600s), suicide is morally wrong. By making the decision to stay alive and fight Claudius' corruption, Hamlet demonstrates existential qualities. However, this is not the only scene where Hamlet acts existentially.

In Act IV, Hamlet encounters alienation and nothingness when he meets a Norwegian captain under the command of Fortinbras. When Hamlet asks the captain about the cause and purpose of the conflict, he is shocked to learn that the countries' armies will go to war over "a little patch of land / That hath in it no profit but the name" (IV.iv.98-99). After Hamlet recovers from the shock of the captain's honesty, he is dumbstruck by the thought that Fortinbras would sacrifice the lives of thousands of men for an admittedly inferior "patch of land." At this point in the play, Hamlet is still struggling with his own inaction, unable to kill Claudius even though he knows of his guilt. Hamlet has a good reason to kill Claudius, yet he fails to do it. How can Fortinbras sacrifice so much for such a futile purpose? In this scene, Hamlet realizes the brutality of humanity and first ponders the idea that no one is safe—another central pillar of existentialism.

From this point on, Hamlet declares that he will have bloody thoughts. "My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (IV.iv.9.56). Hamlet is impressed by the forcefulness of characters like Fortinbras and Laertes, who turn thought into action quickly (Phillips). Laertes, who, like Hamlet, has a father to avenge, does not hesitate for a moment when seeking vengeance on his father's murderer. As Hamlet decides to strive for this personal quality, he begins to act increasingly existential and decreasingly reflective.

When Hamlet finally does achieve his father’s vengeance, he was not spurred to it on his own, but by watching his mother and Ophelia die in front of his own eyes. Furthermore, as Hamlet realized that he had only two minutes to survive, he really had nothing to lose; this is when he made his move to stab and poison Claudius.

Prince Hamlet is introduced as a reflective, slow-to-act character. While he stays true to this characterization for almost the entire play, he does undergo a transformation by the end of the play. By the end, Hamlet decides that he is no longer going to deprive himself of the revenge he so badly desires against Claudius, so he kills him. At this point, Hamlet is existential. He is the only character who fights back against Claudius’s usurpation of the throne, and he accepts the consequences of his actions (i.e. death) without a flinch. This final existential act is what qualifies Hamlet as an existential character in an existential drama at a time when existentialism did not exist in literature.